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PM Justin Trudeau of Canada is blurring the lines after Family Trip and Aga Khan’s Private Helicopter

PM Justin Trudeau of Canada is blurring the lines after Family Trip and Aga Khan’s Private Helicopter

Sawako Uchida and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of the Liberal Party in Canada did much to garner a progressive and liberal image. Yet, his action on a family trip to a very wealthy individual who carries political clout is naïve at best. At worse, it smacks of pandering to the mega rich and abusing the trappings of power. On top of this, his usage of the private helicopter of the Aga Khan is worrisome politically based on issues related to possible cronyism, personal manipulation, and other factors.

It is known that his family trip to the Bahamas on a private island owned by the Aga Khan and the usage of his helicopter is making negative waves in Canada. Not surprisingly, the ethics watchdog of this nation is now investigating the full details of what happened.

This reality means that Trudeau is the first sitting leader of Canada to come under such powerful scrutiny. Trudeau, given his focus on creating a progressive liberal mantra, may escape the findings of the investigation. However, his reputation will be weakened because little ethical can come from enjoying such privilege of a wealthy individual who is the leader of the minority Ismaili branch of Islam.

The Globe and Mail reports, “The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner has launched an examination into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s holidays at the home of the Aga Khan, the billionaire Ismaili Muslim leader who owns a private island in the Bahamas.”

Trudeau knows full well that the billionaire Aga Khan lobbies the government of Canada via his foundation. In other words, his trip and usage of a billionaire’s private helicopter leads Trudeau open to the Conflict of Interest Act.

It is important to note that the foundation of the Aga Khan lobbies the Department of Foreign Affairs. Similarly important, it is known that hundreds of millions of Canadian dollars have been given to the foundation of the Aga Khan. This assistance applies to international development funds given by the Canadian government to the foundation of the Aga Khan. Therefore, while Trudeau may blissfully claim nothing untoward was done, it is correct to mention that he even appears to be going against his own advice in respect to not taking private flights without the due consent of the Ethics Commissioner.